The present invention relates to truck beds and truck liners, and more particularly to truck beds and truck liners of small trucks which double as personal vehicles and business vehicles.
Pick-up trucks have become increasingly popular. In some sections of the country, pick-up trucks out sell passenger cars. Many families utilize the pick-up truck for both a commercial vehicle and a family car. Other truck uses make it desirable to maintain the truck bed relatively clean.
In pick-up trucks and other trucks in which the bed is periodically swept of debris, debris commonly is swept rearwardly onto the tailgate and out of the truck. In these instances, many times debris that is swept toward the tailgate becomes lodged in the tailgate hinge or other mechanism and either prevents or restrains tailgate movement. This is to be avoided for trouble-free tailgate operation.
A number of solutions have been proposed. One solution is to include a truck bed liner which has a flap which folds into the truck when the tailgate is in a closed position and folds outwardly of the truck and over the tailgate when the tailgate is open allowing the debris in the truck bed to be swept over the tailgate and onto the ground. This flap is not preferred any time the truck bed needs to Be swept with the truck bed being partially filled. In these instances, the flap cannot be moved over the tailgate and the truck bed liner offers no solution to the above problem.
Further complicating the matter is that most truck beds are ribbed. These ribs provide for structural strength of the truck bed and at the same time, allow for easy loading by reducing the frictional forces of sliding a load onto the truck bed. However, these ribs prevent debris in the truck bed from being swept into a pile as if one was sweeping a floor. If the debris cannot be swept into a pile, it is not easy to pick up the debris short of the tailgate. Furthermore, the debris between one set of ribs cannot easily be transferred to the space between another set of ribs without leaving debris in the truck bed.
In those existing truck beds which have this problem with the cleaning of the truck bed, a new and improved truck bed liner may be devised to solve the problem and make the truck bed more easily cleanable. In this embodiment, the truck bed liner is provided in which the truck bed is redesigned to allow it more cleanable.
It is therefore highly desirable to provide an improved truck bed.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved truck bed liner.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved truck bed and an improved liner by which debris is more easily swept from the truck bed.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved truck bed and an improved liner in which the debris may be swept from the truck without passing the debris over the tailgate.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved truck bed and an improved liner which allows for debris to be removed from the truck without any of it being lodged in the tailgate mechanism.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved truck bed and an improved liner which has all of the above features.